On the Limits of Rational Moral Education

Contemporary approaches to moral education feature individual choice through rational decision making as the essential component of morality. There is no research which indicates that these approaches significantly alter moral behavior. This paper explores the reasons for moral education's ineffectiveness and offers an alternative perspective on the proper purpose and methods for moral education. A review of the literature on the development of prosocial behavior found that social interactions during childhood are highly significant in the development of a morality. From this research perspective rationality is not a major determinant of moral behavior. The functionalist perspective of Emile Durkheim on the development of personal morality was also discussed. This paper builds upon the above two perspectives to develop a broad conception of directive moral education which emphasizes modeling, induction, and the necessity of organizing the moral education curriculum around a gradient of rationality.